Island



(No Model.) Y

' W. W. BROWN, JI'.

v RUBBER BOOT 0R SHOE. No. 266,965. Patented NOV. '7, 1882.

@ven/607:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. BROWN, JR., OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

RUBBER Boo-r 0R SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 266,965, dated November '7, 1882.

i Application led August 30, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. BROWN, Jr., of the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rubber Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear, true, and complete description of my invention.

My said improvement relates to the inner soles of rubber boots and shoes, and I mean by inner soles7 that portion ofthe boot with which the bottom of the foot or stocking is in contact when in use. Rubber boots and shoes Ahave heretofore had such inner soles com posed of woven cotton or woolen fabric, but most commonly of felt, and such fibrous material has always been, and is now, generally deemed to be best suited for the purpose, notwithstanding certain objectionable features well known to be incident to its'use. vTo obviate some of the existing objections to said fibrous material, it has been proposed to employ inner soles composed of leather; but While they fulfill certain requirements, they have been found to be objectionable for lack of that warmth to the foot which a rubber boot is expected to secure.

In order to render the advantages of the leather inner sole available in conjunction with those incident to the fibrous or'felted material, I have devised a composite inner sole, composed partially of leather and partially of fibrous material and rubber, and have so disposed these materials that the desirable qualities of each are rendered available. In other words, my composite inner sole is composed of leather at that portion thereof upon which the heel and rear portibn of the foot rests, and against which, with the felt or fibrous inner sole, the greatest frictional or abrasive contact occurs with the foot or stocking of the wearer, and the front or remaining portions of said novel inner sole are composed of librous material, and preferably of felted wool.

To more particularly describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a vertical central longitudinal section of a rubber boot embodyingmyinvention. Fig. 2 is a top view of one of my novel composite inner soles. Fig. Sis a longitudinal section of said sole.

The heel-tread A of the inner sole is composed of thin smooth-surfaced leather. The remaining tread portion, B, of said inner sole is composed of felt or other suitable fibrous material. The lateral surface-joint between the leather and the felt may be variously located; but I prefer it to be about at the point indicated in the drawings-say slightlyin front of the front portion of the heel ofthe boot, as shown. This joint-seam may be straight, as shown, or V- shaped, the felt and leather being out so as to form an interlocking or Zigzag joint, and with or without thin projecting portions or fingers from each material extended in each direction from thejoint, so that the said felt extensions will underliethe leather, and the leather extensions underlie the felt, and thereby form a firm, strong jointwhich cannot practically be disturbed. With the joint located substantially as shown, it will be seen that the toe of the foot in entering the boot will first strike the felt portion sufficiently beyond the joint as to not be thereby liable to loosen up the felt at its junction with the leather.

In building up my composite soles for use in the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, I prefer touse a Abase sheet, c, composed ot' textile fabric, coated on both sides with vulcanizable compound, or composed of brous material incorporated with said compound and rolled out in sheets, and upon this base sheet the leather A and felt B are adhesively applied, thus making the inner sole ready for use in the manufacture of a rubber boot or shoe, which, after vulcanizatiou, will have the compositeinner sole firmly fastened in position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a rubber boot or shoe, the composite inner sole composed of a leather heel portion, and the remaining part of felt, textile fabric, or other similar fibrous material, substantially as described. y

WILLIAM W. BROWN, JR.

Witnesses:

JOHN O. PURKIs, GILMAN E. J OPP. 

